Hawaii Warriors vs New Mexico State Aggies

November 8th, 2008 kNuke Posted in NCAA Football | No Comments »

Another week, another Aggies squad for the Hawaii Warriors, but this time a different outcome.  The Hawaii Warriors outgunned the New Mexico State Aggies 42-30 to keep their Hawaii Bowl hopes alive.

Offense: Minus his one fumble, Greg Alexander played well.  He still tucks the ball and runs too quickly, but he makes enough plays to help Hawaii win. Alexander was 26 of 32 for 288 yards and two TDs. And you have to love the effort on the 2-point conversion ala John Elway!

The offensive line probably played its best game of the season.  Yes they had penalties, but that’s to be expected.  Other than that, Alexander had plenty of time in the pocket and Libre had gaping holes to run through.

Kealoha Pilares looked really good in the slot, finishing with 10 catches for 90 yards and a TD.  Daniel Libre looked quick, but lacks breakaway speed, finishing with 88 yards on 13 carries and 2 TDs.  Aaron Bain scored, but he and Michael Washington need to be rotated more often.

Ron Lee…  7 points in the 2nd half.  That’s not going to get it done.

Defense: The defense gave up two huge TD catches.  I’m not sure what happened on those plays, but that can’t happen.  For the most part, the defense got lucky with a few New Mexico State drops, poor play-calling, and a tipped pass, which Ryan Mouton intercepted and returned for a TD.  John Fonoti and Solomon Elimimian played well along with the always steady David Veikune.

Special Teams: Dan Kelly sucks.  There is no excuse for missing an extra point.  At least he made a tackle on the kickoff.  Special Teams were subpar overall; they just can’t turn the ball over, like Bain’s fumble, give up points, or leave points on the field, like with Kelly’s kicks.  On a side note, I loved New Mexico State’s 3-man circus kickoff return.

Coaching: I’m happy the coaches finally stopped flip-flopping at quarterback and stuck with Alexander.  That move definitely paid off.  The penalties shouldn’t happen, I believe that’s a coaching issue.  I still have to question their ability to adjust in the 2nd half.  Also, what’s up with that challenge and why was Pilares playing on that last drive?

Final Word: New Mexico State is terrible.  It looked like there were only Hawaii fans there, that’s embarrassing.  It’s a win, but Hawaii needs to take this game with a grain of salt.